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With today’s Fruit Grower Report, I’m Bob Larson. Women are making their way into Washington’s booming wine industry, but not fast enough.

Ashley Trout, winemaker at Vital Wines and March Cellars, says there are plenty of women graduating from the Enology and Viticulture program at Walla Walla Community College, but they need to take that first step …

ASHLEY TROUT … “From my perspective, if you can get your foot in the door on that entry-level position somehow or figure out how to jump to a mid-level position, it’s easier being a female winemaker than a male winemaker.”

Easier? Why?

ASHLEY TROUT … “a number of reasons. It’s easier because if part of your job at the top tier of being the face of a brand or being a winemaker, part of your job realistically is to sell wine. It’s a lot easier to sell wine if you’re a diamond in the rough, right? If you’re a needle in the haystack. People love a good story. It’s why you’re calling me right now.”

Trout says looking back, her gender probably helped her out when she was just getting started in the business …

ASHLEY TROUT … “I’ve had access to fruit that I probably shouldn’t have had access to early in my career because those vineyards were really supportive of women and couldn’t even find a women winemaker to sell it to and were very excited to have me on board. And I would argue that I hadn’t even proven myself at that point yet.”

Listen tomorrow when Trout tells us more about how she’s made the most of the opportunities provided to her by a very giving wine community.